Absolution
by Rael Orion
Summary: At the end of "Escape!", Aerrow wasn't able to escape the terra. Now a prisonner to the cyclonians, he faces years of pain before he is saved. But years of pain leave marks. Read for further details. Piper/Aerrow Short prologue but longer chapters
1. Chapter zero: Prologue

**Title:** Absolution

**Date first posted:** April 04, 2008  
**Author(s):** Ulti/Rael

**Summary:** Well, it's pretty much Aerrow gets kidnapped after saving the prisonners.  
**Main pairing(s): **Aerrow/Piper

**Main character(s): **Pretty much everyone I guess.

**Genre(s):** Adventure, drama, romance, etc.

**Time period:** At the end of episode 16, "Escape!"

**Rating:** I'll just put T.

**Warning(s):** Curse, torture (not described), blood, etc.

**Completion status:** Not completed.

**Word count:** 1348 words… really too short  
**Chapters: **0/?

This was a bad day for Aerrow. Sure, the plan to save the prisoners while he acted as a distraction went well. What wasn't going that well was… Well, he wasn't out of troubles yet.

He was proud of the surf-on-the-missile trick he pulled. The face on that man was completely worth it. But said missile ran out of power exactly RIGHT before he could reach the Condor's hook.

That was followed by a long fall. Of course, with his heli-scooter, the cyclonian had tried to get to him. Aerrow had smirked when all his tricks had finally come in hand, as he had seen the motor explode and the man being sent away.

That had been a short relief as his situation had returned to him. All he had seen before being caught and knocked out was a red blur and a sadistic smile.

At the time, he had taken that person for a random cyclonian taking his chance at glory. It was only what he thought was hours later, when he had briefly woken up, that he had caught a glimpse of the back of the one who had caught him; his arch-enemy's sword always on his back if not in his hand.

He was now in a cell in one of the deepest prisons of the cyclonian empire, if the complete lack of light, and windows for that matter, was any indication. Well, at least, that's what Aerrow thought he didn't see, thanks to the complete lack of light.

Suddenly, a door opened, blinding the chained Aerrow, who could do nothing but shut his eyes quickly. He felt a hit to his head before the sudden brightness of the room turned to black.

The first thing he saw when he finally opened his eyes again was that he was seeing the back of the cyclonian empress, master Cyclonis. He wanted to say something, but a guard, having seen he was awake, took his hair and pulled on them roughly, earning a yelp of pain from the red haired teen. This, of course, caught the attention of the evil teen in front of him, who turned around with a sadistic smile on her pale face.

"Seems like our guest finally came to," she said, looking at her fingernails, as if out of boredom. Aerrow's glare earned him another hit, this time to the ribs. The sound that echoed through the room was proof that at least a few ribs had been broken. Aerrow gritted his teeth.

"What do you want?" he said harshly, earning another kick to the ribs. He was getting angrier as each seconds passed. Cyclonis leaned toward him, clearly enjoying his pain.

"Aerrow, Aerrow, Aerrow… You should learn respect. I'm the one asking question. As it is, the only right you have is to answer me and that's it," explained the young empress, before Aerrow received a punch to the face. He coughed, blood making its appearance on the floor. "But since I'm feeling generous today, I'll still answer you," she said.

She turned around, reporting her attention back to the crystals she was working on. As the minutes passed by, Aerrow was getting more annoyed, but decided it'd be best to keep quiet, given the circumstances. Frowning at his lack of retort, Cyclonis turned around, clearly unsatisfied at his quietness.

"You see, thanks to you, Storm Hawks, I've been running low on people working for me, as several of my… employees… have been either captured by you sky knights or left in fear of retribution from your part." Here, she made a small pause to mutter something Aerrow didn't catch before she turned back to him, her evil smile back in place. "I'm offering you to join the cyclonian army," said the purple dressed teen. The reaction was instantaneous.

"As if I'd ever…" started Aerrow, before getting a knee to his face, making more blood appear on his face, slightly matching his hair.

"Now, now, Aerrow, don't be so hasty. Think carefully. Because either I gain a new officer…" she lingered. Several of the people present, including the Dark Ace, who was hiding his presence, had frown on their faces. An officer? Why would an enemy immediately get a high grade right from the beginning? Indignation rose into the room. But said indignation was soon replaced by malice as the second option came to the light. "… or I get a new lab rat for my experiences," Of course, he'd accept, but just imagining him suffer was enough to compensate for the fact that…

"I'd rather…" Aerrow's voice cut everyone's train of thoughts. "… become a lab rat than to betray and turn my back on my friends…" finally finished Aerrow, his hand hanging from the exhaustion. Everyone's eyes widened in surprise. Was he mad? Further wondering was cut short by the smirk on master Cyclonis' face.

"Very well, then, Aerrow. I gave you a choice, but you made the decision. We'll see each other tomorrow… in laboratory number 13," she finished. Several smirks appeared on the faces of people in the room, each looking forward to the… "show". Only one man kept his frown. "Take him back to his cell!" finished the Cyclonian queen, before turning back to her crystals, preparing them for the following day, or rather, days.

Aerrow was taken back to his cell, only mildly aware of what would happen to him. One thing was clear in his head though; he would not betray his friends, no matter what.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" said Cyclonis, stopping the guards and Aerrow right at the entrance. The two guards looked at her. "Give our… permanent guest a welcoming party, will you," she said, not even turning around. She didn't need to, already knowing that twin sadistic smiles had already left the room.

Aerrow was led to the dungeons, but instead of taking a left turn at a place, what he thought they should have done, they took a right turn. Perhaps he was wrong, but he had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next. His feeling was proven right when he saw, at the door of a room, a bright sign saying "Torture Chambers". The last coherent thought he had that day was _What the hell? Why do they need a freakin' yellow and green sign to tell them where they are?_

_Hours later…_

A bloodied Aerrow was tossed inside his cell. His lungs were making him suffer for the screams he had, even though involuntarily, made for the last hours, that had been pure pain to him. He directly fell asleep on the cold hard floor.

He had resisted, and that had earned him another hour of pain. Now he wasn't sure if he would have done it anyway or would have been submissive. Even in his dreams was he haunted by the choice he had made that led to his current situation.

He was woken up by an icy cold bucket of water on his dirtied skin. Jolting up, the blinding pain he felt made him curse as he fell back from his sitting position.

A flash of the past events took all the time he had before being dragged by his harms to another part of the prison where he was cleaned up, or in other words thrown on the floor while someone took a pipe to shoot an intense jet of water at him. He would have lost consciousness had the water not been, as earlier, icy cold.

He was dragged again to another room, where a uniform of some sort took the place of his now almost inexistent old clothes, too badly damaged to be called clothes anymore.

As he entered the laboratory, he almost regretted his choice at the sight of all the tools in the room. But he regained enough of his mind long enough to remember that he'd never betray his friends. Never.

Master Cyclonis' sadistic smile came back to her at sight of the horrified expression on Aerrow's face when he saw all her tools, some that she most certainly would use on him that day.

And so, the day began, with her evil majesty wanting to try a new crystal of her invention on her new favourite red haired guinea pig.

_**To be continued…**_

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Well, that's the first (short) chapter of my new fanfic, but the next chapters should be longer. I'm so evil toward Aerrow right now… But, oh well, I guess it goes with the story. Now, review. By doing so, you most certainly will encourage me to continue to write this. And if you don't want me to continue then… review anyway XD. Also, about the title, _Absolution_, then… I just took the first word that came to my mind XD. It has nothing to do with the story. Just a random word.

**_Edit_**: 30/04/09 Some mistakes corrected. Thanks to Ambrel for pointing them out.


	2. Chapter one: Blankness

Absolution

Rael: Me (and my boring skits) am (are) back with a new chapter. Enjoy. Iownnothing, novampireswereharminthemakingofthisskit.

_Last time on "Absolution"…_

And so, the day began, with her evil majesty wanting to try a new crystal of her invention on her new favourite red haired guinea pig.

And now on to the story…

Chapter one: Blankness

Aerrow barely let out a slight moan as the leathery fabric of the whip once again tore at his already bleeding and torn flesh. The instigator, clearly annoyed by the lack of reaction from the source of his attention, simply continued whipping the red haired teen in front of him. Well, that was if teen still applied, but the guard was not going to give a damn about it.

Aerrow's reactions didn't change as the pain kept coming. At a time, his screams and curses had made his jailors laugh at him and his misery. When he had started to scream less and less, it was due to his exhaustion, but once again had he been kept from the blissful sensation of sleep by cold water, something he didn't really though he'd get accustomed to.

Yet here he was, completely awake, though his half closed eyes could tell otherwise. His arms, which were chained by the wrist to the ceiling, were all that were keeping him hanging off the ground. His head was hung low. It had taken much less time that anybody would have thought for him to get accustomed to the chilling sensation of cold water.

They had, after a while, stopped trying to awaken him with the cold water, as it didn't work as well as in the beginning. They tried shocking him, and it had followed the same route as the water. One of the few thoughts that Aerrow still had, as he kept his mind, most of the time in some kind of stasis, was that he was glad the idiots still hadn't figured out that water conducted electricity. Not that it would have been all that different by now.

As for the many experiences he was used as a guinea pig for, few of the experimental crystals seemed to have any other effect other than direct pain, but Aerrow had the feeling it was on purpose. But as stated earlier, that was before he managed to enter into a stasis of sort.

He had thought of that months, or perhaps years, he didn't quite care about it now, after his imprisonment. All he had to do was to let his mind open until he was awake not from will, but pure reflexes. Of course, he could still feel the pain of the experiments and the tortures, but to a lesser extend. It had taken him some time to perfect that technique but he was glad he did. Fewer thoughts for less pain; a rather nice deal in his opinion.

Concerning yet again the experiments, as time had passed, in his moments of complete consciousness, he could feel that the pleasure the leader of the cyclonians was having in using him as a lab rat was growing tinier and tinier as he let out less and less reactions to her actions.

He knew he was probably still the favourite lab rat for the time being, but it was probably because he was either the last of the most entertaining she had, or perhaps one of those, if not the only one, that had not yet gone insane. Interestingly enough, the purple clad cyclonian didn't know that.

A sharp "Stop" followed by the lack of what little pain whips gave him was enough to shatter his train of thoughts as he looked up slightly, his half opened, dead-looking eyes falling on the one person that threw him in this pit hole; master Cyclonis herself. Her purple eyes held malice like he had only seen in his first few sessions in that damn laboratory. She smiled smugly, and although they couldn't tell he was even able to see it, in her hand laid a black glowing crystal, emitting blood red small electrical bolts. His head, which had only lifted slightly, dropped down.

"It's been 4 years, Aerrow," she started, looking at him. "4 long years of faithful service, even though they probably weren't exactly wanted," she laughed, her voice echoing in the room. Aerrow didn't move, yet in his head, a few thoughts were wandering. _4 years?_ he thought. _It's been that long already? _he continued. _I don't see what's so big about it though_ he thought weakly.

A new presence made itself known as it entered the room behind its master. Aerrow's head lifted again, this time looking up. He saw Cyclonis back away slightly in disgust; she had never assisted to any of his more physical torture, or even their direct aftermath. Each time she had seen him, it was after vigorous washing from the cyclonians, A.K.A. intense jet of water. He looked behind her to find someone he hadn't seen since his current status, "prisoner and guinea pig", had been made official by the dark queen; the Dark Ace.

Aerrow slightly shifted his head to the side. Strangely enough, as he would have jumped at any occasions to try to attack that man, he was now simply starring at the person who took his freedom away from him. Aerrow had a blank stare at seeing the man he should have nothing but hatred toward. He was barely surprised by what he thought of him; he simply didn't care anymore. As of him, the Dark Ace had different thought.

The younger man's stare had thrown him, as well as his master, completely off. It was empty of anything; no anger, hatred, pain, or any good feeling, though that would've been almost as surprising. His eyes were actually void of any emotions for that matter; that was what he hated the most. Cyclonis quickly regained her posture, though the shock wouldn't leave her.

"You… aren't of any use to me anymore," she said, her disturbed expression and voice clear. "So I thought, "why not give him a little goodbye party" before getting… rid of you," she continued. The hand holding the crystal was shaking ever so slightly. The stare Aerrow kept aimed at her and the Dark Ace was really disturbing. She wasn't even sure if she could go on with her plans as planned. She hated that. _Goodbye… party…?_ thought Aerrow.

Quite suddenly, she turned around. The Dark Ace looked down at her; her small height hid nothing of how dangerous she was. She motioned for him to open his hand. The feeling that overcame him was making him feel uneasy but he slowly opened his hand nevertheless, and it was quickly the landing spot of the crystal that was seconds before into his master's hand. He looked at her, trying, and making a far better job then Cyclonis, to keep his emotionless expression. She turned to Aerrow.

"Dark Ace here will have the privilege of trying my last invention on you," she said. Her attempt at a sadistic smile would have been met with laughter if not given the situation. She motioned for her most loyal servant to proceed. The Dark Ace was forced to comply. He slowly approached Aerrow, his hand clutching the crystal slightly. He'd never felt this bad in all the years he could remember, and he didn't quite understood why.

He had already attacked and injured the man in front of him the past, much more ruthlessly than like this. So why was this uneasiness coming to him now? The answer was so simple; The complete and total void in the young adult's eyes. He finally reached Aerrow and trying to think the less about what he was about to do, he opened his hand and thrusted the crystal into Aerrow's chest. There was a flash of purple, and Cyclonis and he, along with the guard, had to shield their eyes from it. The Dark Ace was the first to recover, and he looked at Aerrow.

His eyes had widened completely under the shock, but instead of seeing emerald green eyes, the Dark Ace was met with white, as Aerrow's eyes had rolled to the back of his head, or so it seemed. He couldn't help but look away. The same was said for the cruel leader of the cyclonians. Evil or not, some things couldn't be helped sometimes. Seconds later, Aerrow's eyes came back to normal, his eyelids slowly closing on them. Cyclonis didn't turn around.

"Dark Ace," she said, making her second in command gratefully turn his attention away from Aerrow toward master Cyclonis. "Take him to the Wastelands and throw him into it. Come back as soon as you're finished. And please, get out of cyclonian territories," she told him. He gave a questioning look. "I don't want him to die in our territory" she finally said before leaving the Dark Ace to look back at the bloodied man before him.

The chains were undone and soon enough, the Dark Ace, carrying his once arch-nemesis, was flying out toward the Wastelands. He looked behind him at the unconscious man on the "backseat" of his skimmer. They hadn't taken the time to clean the still bloodied body of Aerrow. Of course, it would have been pretty useless given what was about to happen, but still. He continued to fly through the Atmos, eager to reach the borderlines of cyclonian territory. He couldn't understand the request, because it was that was what it was, a request, of Cyclonis to finish him outside the borderlines but he wouldn't discuss.

He reached the border hours later. Looking down, he saw the boiling lava from the deadly Wastelands. He looked back at Aerrow and a flash of his father's image, the Dark Ace's former friend, came to him. He held his head with his hand.

"What's wrong with me…" he muttered. He let his hand fall to the side, where it brushed against something; what he took out was an emitter. A thought flashed through his head instantly. "No… no, no, no…" he muttered again. "I can't do that…" he continued. His ramblings continued for a few minutes. He couldn't believe it; he was thinking about betraying Cyclonis. "Arg!" he finally let out a scream as thoughts continued to race through his mind. He looked behind him again; it would be so simple, all he had to do was to push the green-eyed man off the skimmer and he was done with it. Why couldn't he just bring himself to do it?

He sighed in frustration. Kill a helpless Aerrow and go back to Cyclonia to his high rank and privileges and await orders to go and take control of another terra or… help those he betrayed so long ago, risk everything he had in life, itself included, but also… risk getting the same, if not only slightly different feeling he had when he was a part from what he had, at a time, called his family; a feeling he couldn't help but regret the loss at some points in his life. He slowly reached his hand toward Aerrow. His decision was made.

_Hours later…_

A red and grey skimmer entered the hangar of a cyclonian hangar. Its owner, the Dark Ace, got out of it and started walking toward the door. Before he could make a fifth step, said door opened to reveal Cyclonis walking into the room. She looked at him and a smile appeared on her face.

"I conclude by your return that our… not-so-permanent guest met his end?" she asked the stoic Dark Ace.

**_To be continued…_**

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Oh, the joys of being evil… And this chapter was, indeed, longer, if only by 300 words, that the last XD. Anyway, _Is Aerrow really dead? Has the Dark Ace made the good decision? Will I get my PS3 soon? All these answers shall be answered in the next chapter! _Now, please, review! ^^

**_Edit_**: _30/04/09_ Mistake correction. Thanks again to Ambrel for pointing them out.


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